An End to the Journey + Assessment Books (requested by parents)

I am done writing about the individual subjects and tuition courses I have attended. Glad that people are emailing me to say they find it useful for them or their child. Truthfully, I feel rather accomplished at this moment :) Another one of my To-Do-List items striked out

So, if you are not actually aware, I have offered to give away my notes/worksheets/exam papers if I have them in softcopy for all levels. Apparently, I didn't delete them from my hard disk. Do note that I DO NOT own the worksheets and exam papers. Only physics and biology notes are self-written. And I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the notes, the best I can say is that I studied them for olevels. So do email me if you're interested (anonymousandmyjourney@gmail.com). Offer stands till 5 Feb 2014

(update on 8 july : some people who emailed me after 5 feb have received a reply from me. due to my busy jc schedule, i cannot promise that i will check this email often and send the materials you require. however, you can always try your luck and send me your questions or requests. if i do have the time, i will try my best to respond to your email )

Again, if you have any queries on the tuition I attended, you can also email me at the above email address.

Okay, since I am done with tuition and subject tips, I shall now recommend assessment books as it is requested by some parents..

Mathematics and Additional Mathematics
1. www.exampapers.com.sg ( Ms Loi tuition papers).

They are rather expensive but I find the questions there challenging enough for top school students. However, if you are weak in the subject itself, I suggest starting with topical TYS instead.

2. www.maths-digest.com (Mr Pang assessment books) 

You can find them in popular bookstores. The assessment book compiles questions from top schools and arranges it in topical order. Good for practice but again it doesn't come cheap because of the full working provided in the book.
3. www.yellowreeef.com (Guide books)
You can find them in popular bookstores too. I personally love their A.Math Critical Guide. I found it super useful because they compile all the formulas and gives you sufficient practice and good explanation and shortcuts. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
I didn't really like their complete guides though

Sciences
1. Hahaha I don't recommend assessment books for sciences because I find that the information is either the black and white version of the textbook or some of the information is out of syllabus. I personally recommend using tuition notes instead or writing your own notes using textbook/model answers/school notes. It works much better.

Humanities.
1. Let me be frank, I found the assessment books I bought for humanities useless. Seriously, DO NOT BUY.
2. If you want practice, I am pretty sure your school can provide you with plenty of other school's papers.
3. If you want notes, your school should also have provided you with notes. Please don't buy assessment books. if you really feel the need to get good notes, I RECOMMEND: socialstudiessingapore.blogspot.sg
It is really good and free.

Ten-Years-Series
1. Start doing the topical ones in secondary 3.
2. Only do the full papers nearing prelims or after prelims. Ask your teachers for answer keys if possible. If not, for chemsitry, Mrs Kang my tutor provides her own answer keys. The publishers answers may not be what cambridge is looking for so follow your school if you can.


OKAY. YAY! DONE^^ No more updates I think.. Unless I have any requests from parents.
Happy Chinese New Year to everyone out there~
Enjoy studying, it can be tough but at least its something that you can do to keep yourself busy. Looking forward to JC already, too bored from all the holidays..

Till then, byeee

Biology

BIO~
Biology is interesting. When you read and find out how things work in the body, how systems operate, everything seems like a marvel. The part that sucks is the memorising bit. Really, in biology, you must cramp that entire textbook into your head. No cheats, no shortcut, that's how it works for biology.

O Levels 2013 Biology Results
Bio turned out to be my second worst faring result. A2. I believe thats a curse on me:'( I have been scoring A2 for all my bio exams, whether I studied like mad or just selectively study. The only times I got A1 for bio is when there is a common test/mock exam/time trial (they all mean the same thing, our school just changes the name every semester-.-)
Apparently, this year's bio results for the school was below par as compared to the other subjects. Other than pure geography, biology is the only subject that was below national average in terms of percentage distinctions. Most of my friends scored an A2, including one that always topped the level in bio. It's a puzzle isnt it?

How to study for Biology?
Told ya, no shortcut, just memorise. Okay maybe understanding might help, but the key is to memorise.
1. WRITE YOUR OWN NOTES. Unless you're that kind who thinks you can cramp from the textbook, then go ahead and memorise from there. Don't get me wrong, it is possible. One of my closest friends doesn't write her own notes for bio and manages to get an A1 in every exam and during olevel.
2. Memorise before you start doing worksheets/papers, or at least read and understand first. There is no point finding for answers in the textbook and just copying it straight out. That's not learning, that's copying.
3. For standard essay questions, type the answers out, and memorise off there.***
4. I don't find doing many many papers for biology necessary. Really. I only did 2012 and 2011 olevel paper.
5. The more you do, the more things you have for revision= not enough time = selectively revise the paper =  no point doing so many in the first place.
6. For major exams, memorise things that will commonly come out (check your schools past year papers). Don't go around memorising small details that havent been tested before. Of course, there is a possibility of it coming out, but seriously, the chances are not high.

O levels Study Tip
Okay, if you're like me, a bit too lazy and don't have enough time for studying everything, you can try my way of studying. The risk is there of course, given that i didnt score an A1 in my olevels.
1. Do about 3-5 MCQ papers. Mark it. See which questions you get wrong. Label the questions according to its topic.
2. See which topics keep reappearing, study those in detail first.
3. If you have done enough paper 2, you should be able to tell which part of the topic is commonly tested. Study those in detail.
4. By this stage, you should be able to pass your paper already.
5. Start reading the textbook all over again about 1 week before the olevel. Just read every single word, don't need to memorise.
6. Make sure you read everything. EVERYTHING.
7. One or two days before the paper, read the notes you have prepared (includes commonly asked questions, standard phrasing and processes)
8. You are ready to go!

Okay, yes, this looks like a shortcut because you're not memorising everything. And so, don't blame me if you don't get your A1.

*** Notes for Biology.
I still kept the notes for bio essay questions that I used to studying for o levels. If you're interested, drop me an email at anonymousandmyjourney@gmail.com (valid until 5 Feb 2014 only!)

Alrights, that's all for this post. If you have any questions or queries, you can either comment below or email me. Till then, byee~

Physics

P.H.Y.S.I.C.S
I struggled a lot when i was studying for physics. It wasnt like Chemistry or Biology, whereby memorising information from the textbook can get you good grades. For physics, I memorised definifitions, formulas, keywords and studied for my tests but still my results only came back with a pass. How demoralising right?

Over the year, I slowly started figuring out that physics was about the application of your knowledge. You understand the theory behind the topic, then you apply it to the questions you are tested on. It is almost like math,  just that in math all you need to know is formulas, you dont really need to understand how the formula is being derived. Whereas in physics, you must understand the concept of the topic, only then you can apply it in different scenerios.

Prelim questions can get really super difficult. But only schools would torture you till that extent. Like in paper 1, they can mix topics in a calculation question, and make you do a half a page long working. In the end, after all that hardwork, what you are doing is only worth 1 pathetic mark, how miserable. In olevels however, maybe only one of such questions would come out. In many cases, o level physics is actually do-able.

Tips on Studying for Physics
1. If your physics grades are low, it is a sign that you do not understand the concept of the topic. Do not be disheartened, it takes time to master this subject.
2.(i) Please do not memorise all the definitions to every single key word in the textbook. Yes, I know that they do test definition questions, but there are hundreds of it in total, are you seriously going to squeeze all that in your head when the definition question (which usually only comes out once in the paper) is only WORTH 1 MARK.
(ii) However, if you're studying for a test on a particular topic, go ahead and memorise the definition. It might be easier to recall during the exam period if you do so. Or at least you might have an idea of what to write in exams.
3. Instead of memorising definitions words, I suggest memorising the laws of the topic. Like what are Newton's Laws, what is the definition of Principle of Moments, what are the laws of reflection? These are worth at least 2 marks, and it would help in your understanding of concepts.
4. I personally advise against using guide books for physics. I find that some parts of the guide books are out of the syllabus and hardworking students who realise they are not doing well will memorise the information wholesale.
5. WRTITE YOUR NOTES. When you are writing, refer to the workbook answers your teacher provides. During lesson time, take down how your teacher explains the concept, if you're unsure of how to do the question, refer back. There are keywords in the answer key your teacher provides, make sure you have them in your notes too.
6. Some people might find that it is "wrong" to study this way, because it is not understanding if you do it wrong, but I found it useful for me. As I am doing the papers, I realised that similar questions would be asked, and the answer to the questions are quite standardised. Instead of losing marks for not writing keywords (our school does that), I would actually study using the answer key the school provides. Point to note: This will only work if you have a full understanding of the topic. By doing this, you are perfecting your answer, and not regurgitating answers because you see the same question.
7. I find doing assessment papers for physics unnecessary. The school usually has their own worksheets and will make you do the workbook, this is enough practice already. The more you do, the more you have to revise during a major exam, and trust me, there wont be enough time
8. SI UNITS!!! Must take note of the SI unit, whether it is in joules, or kilowatt per hour or metres per second. Formulas are written in terms of SI unit. There are questions that gives velocity as cm/s, so do remember to change it to m/s before applying the formula.

Tips during O Level period 
1. Do the yearly TYS. It turned out impossible for me to finish all the paper 2, so I did from 2008-2012 only. Try to finish all the paper 1, most of the time there would be one or two repeated question each year.
2. When it is really close to olevels already, stop doing prelim papers. You will just scare yourself more because you dont know how to do some or most of the questions. It is normal for physics especially, prelims can really be extremely tough.
3. Go through all the school worksheets, workbook and test papers. It will help you spot where your mistake usually occurs.
4. By this stage, you must already perfect your own notes. Every school has their own style of answering questions, so please just follow what your school tells you. Every teacher would want their students to do well. So if your teacher answers the question a certain way, just do it the same in olevels.
5. If you have troubles with the tys questions or get your answer wrong and you have no idea why it is wrong, do not hesitate to find for your teacher for consultation. You never know that might be the question that will get repeated in your year.

My experience in O levels
Paper 1, there was this charging of car battery question which came out in the tys. I didn't know how to attempt it because I had problems understanding the question. So, when we were doing a consultation with my teacher, I brought up this question. He explained and I understood. So happen that in our o level paper, the exact same question came out. And so, 1 mark secured just like that^^ (look at point 5 above)

Paper 2. I didnt know the exact definition of what is an electric field. So I just gave what I remembered, which happened to be wrong. But it was worth 1/2 marks, I felt okay with it.
Math is my forte, and so when i was revising, i didnt really bother looking at the electricity calculation questions. During the olevels, I forgot to take note of the SI unit when calculating my electricity bill. My answer turned out to be the poor guy has to pay over a hundred dollars to watch TV and use his computer for two weeks. I knew something went wrong somewhere, but I didnt have the time to correct it. Thankfully for science, there is ECF (error carry forward), so the next part of the question will not be affected by this wrong answer. If not, that is 5 marks gone. Moral of the story: study everything, dont be over confident.


That's all I have for Physics~ On a side note, I do have my own physics notes in softcopy. If you're interested, do send me an email : anonymousandmyjourney@gmail.com
These are the notes which i compiled from my school notes/worksheets/workbook so I hope that you understand that not all schools have the same way of answering a particular question. Also, there might be some spelling errors and stuff like that, so bear with me, typing it on computer isnt easy.
The notes includes all topics from Sec 3- 4. Comes with pictures too^^ these are the notes i used to study for olevels!
Valid till 5 February 2014 only. By then, JC would have started and so I will not be checking my email anymore. If you have any questions regarding the notes or regarding this subject, you can email me or comment below!

Cheers and till then~ byee!

Chemistry

All about Chemistry. 
In short, how to excel in chemistry? It is hidden within the subject name itself--> CHEM.IS.TRY. Hahaha that was what our teacher told us (kinda lame). Chemistry is my most loved subject after math. It is super cool and super fun, the troubles only come when teachers set the questions in a way such that you have no idea what they are trying to get you to do. Yeap, that's the latest trend. It's like finding the hidden message (topic) behind the question. Of course, there are questions that mixes up different topics together, that would be in the O levels.

My Chemistry Teachers. 
Mr Goh is my school teacher. He has his own notes which he makes all his students print for lesson use. I personally find them too detailed but wells, that saves the effort of writing your own for some people. Chemistry worksheets are provided by the school, but he marks them really strictly and even do the corrections for everyone in the class-.-" Reason: He has major OCD (oppressive compulsive disorder), in other words, he can't stand seeing mistakes in the paper. Weird but well, that saves us the corrections too! He has tons of his own worksheets, but he only gives out after prelims. We are drilled lesson after lesson by doing hundreds of mcq papers. My fastest record of completing one full mcq paper: 15 minutes.

Mrs Kang is my tutor. She is THE  BEST. Really, but I heard she is migrating to New Zealand. So one less capable teacher in Singapore coaching students, what a pity.

How to excel in Chemistry? Study tips, you would call them. 
1. Pay attention in class
2. Read the notes or textbook after the lesson before doing the worksheets to make sure you understand
3. Write your own notes
4. Do the worksheets given
5. Do tys topical worksheets or assessment papers (when i was sec 3, I found the tys too difficult for chemistry because olevel tends to mix up topics and some questions are out of syllabus)
6. Do corrections if necessary
7. Update your notes on important things you need to take note of in the chapter.
8. DO NOT SCREW UP YOUR SPA EXAM. IT CAN COST YOU THE A1 THAT YOU DESERVE.

It can be difficult to do this when you are in secondary 4 because of all the time constraints. So I recommend using your school notes/tuition notes for tests. Before a major exam, compile everything and write your own notes. It is possible, because I did this before each major exam. I re-write my notes to help me memorise.

ONLY TOWARDS OLEVELS TIPS
1. Do the yearly TYS after you are taught ALL the topics. Ask your school for the answer key because according to my tutor, the publisher answer keys might not be very accurate. (my tutor provides her own answer key to the tys)
2. Keep practising MCQ questions. Do other schools prelim papers, do assessment book mcq questions, find your school worksheets to do, do the tys mcq. Trust me, 70-80% are the same once you have done enough. Do so much that at one glance you know what the question is asking for already. To secure an A1 in olevels, the minimum you should get for mcq is 35 marks according to my teacher. I scored 39/40 in olevels, one question i didnt read carefully enough. Remember to read every single word in olevels when you are checking, I was over confident with that question and so I got cheated of that one mark.
3**. Paper 2 Section B. First question is always source based question. It can get really difficult because it is definitely a no-repeat-question in the olevels. You have to extra information you need from the source they give you and answer the question. So, in order for you not to lose your confidence in the paper, start by doing the second questions, then the either/or question, then go back to that first question. At least you would not panick from not knowing how to do a 10 marks question.
4. Once you are nearing the olevels, you should already know that there is a certain part of the chapter that exams like to test. Focus on that part. Unless you have a super power memory bank, do not try memorising all the little details of the chapter. Yes, that is risky but worth it. Why worth 1/2 marks on little details when most important parts are worth 5-6 marks?

My experience in olevels
Unfortunately, chemistry paper 2 fell on the same day as my e.geog paper (geog students were just so unlucky) My geog is weaker than my chemistry, so i spent friday studying chem, sat and sun studying only geog. After the geog paper, tried to memorise more chem stuff. My poor brain was so tired so i only looked at the set of concise notes my tutor gave me.

During the paper, there was this question: How does the catalyst help to lower the activation energy of the reaction? [2 marks]    (not exact due to poor memory)
I totally didnt have a single idea how to do it. It was the first time I saw this question. And I am pretty sure you wouldnt be able to find the answer in the textbook. So i just crapped an answer out. It turned out that the topical notes my tutor gave actually had the answer right in it. I figured that out when i was studying for my chem paper 1. Just this one small paragraph in one entire stack of chemistry notes. I wasn't even angry at myself for not reading it. Seriously.

In the end, I still managed to score an A1 in chemistry. Chemistry may be my favourite science, but my chem results have always been 75<x<85. So yeah, study the important parts, those are the ones that will give out most of the marks.


That's all for this post. I do realise that my tips for chemistry is rather short compared to humanities, but that is because the key to science is to understand and practice. No magic formulas in science. Maybe just some hidden agenda in the questions. Till then~

**Paper 2 Section B last question is always an "either/or" question, meaning you can choose the question you want to do. My friend once asked my teacher, can they put it an "neither/nor" for a change?

Combined Humanities: Social Studies and Elective Geography

Its a RISK
I only took one humanities. I would call it risky, but it was the right decision. Why risky? Because humanities is definitely tabulated into your L1R5, so you cant risk it being screwed up. Most of my classmates with eight points this year had B3 for humanities and A1 for english (I had mine the other way around)

How I coped with humanities?
Quite badly, to be frank. Sec 3 MYE: 59,  Sec 3 FYE: 59 ,  Sec 4 MYE: 60, Sec 4 Prelims: 72. You see the jump? No, the papers didnt get easier, in fact, it just becomes tougher due to more topics tested. The answer to the jump: tuition. Yes, tuition after tuition, my life is filled with tuition, but i didnt mind. Thank god, I met a tutor that saved my L1R5 --> Mr Daniel Xia from Aspire Hub (more about tuition below)

Study Tips for Social Studies
1. Source based questions (SBQ): you need to learn the skills to answer the questions. I couldnt pick it up from my teacher in school and so i failed miserably each time. 8/25 was my lowest record.
2. SBQ: Follow the structure your schools gives you. Each school does it differently for different types of question. If you're going to defy your school, they have all the rights to mark you down in school exams.
3. Read the TOPIC given. It in BOLD for a reason. Many people skip it, but seriously it like reading a book without reading its title. What you trying to do, decipher the topic/title? It gives you an idea of what you are reading so you wont be lost. Underline the sentence in the source that answers to the topic. Write notes on the paper, it is YOUR PAPER. Notes as in what you can interpret. Just short sentences/ words so that you wont forget. NO IT IS NOT A WASTE OF TIME TO DO THIS. Isnt it better than reading all the sources to find that one evidence? Tested and proven to be useful. Trust me on this. This is an advice only given by my teacher. It is the best advice i can ever offer to you. 
4. Hmm, what my teacher told us to do, read comics. Sounds suspicious but thats where you get to enjoy sarcasm. I didnt follow and so here's what happened in olevels. (not exact same qns, poor memory)
               The SBQ topic was cod war, cartoon shows a fishing boat in the sea with people
               from two countries. "Look! There are shells in this fishing net!"
               What I interpreted as: Shells= Seashells.
               What the cartoonist meant: Shells= Bomb shells.
               And that was five marks being bombed away :"(
5. Structured Essay Questions (SEQ): New syllabus starts in the 2014 olevel batch. It used to have the same weightage as SBQ, so we really had to memorise a lot.
6. SEQ: Memorising from the textbook is ONLY memorising evidence. Evidence is only used to support a stand and not answer a question. This is what many students fail to see. You must make a link using the evidence to answer their questions by EXPLAINING. Thats why it is the PEEL structure. Point, Evidence, Explanation, Link.
7. SEQ: If you cant think of the explanation, look for model essays. For else go for the tuition i recommend. He provides essays with explanations. Sad thing is that you will have to not only memorise the evidence, you would also need to memorise the explanation because you cant think of it yourself.
8. SEQ: Personally, I find that writing notes for SS is a CHORE because there is just SO MUCH to write. So, I first mindmap out the topic, at least i know which part i covered and how much more i need to cover.
9. WRITE YOUR OWN NOTES. You can refer to other people's notes but write your own. Even top students in my school for ss does that. So all the more everyone should do it.

Study Tips for Elective Geography
1. Many teachers teach geography in such a way that you will have to memorise a lot. Although memorising is inevitable in humanities, but it really isnt all about just memorising. Understanding is key. Thank god for my sec 4 teacher that taught us this^^ He is another great teacher, Mr Tan, but he teaches in school only:)
2. Write your own notes. Use all the resources you have, powerpoint slides, textbook, mark scheme, guide books. Compile the best of the best into your notes.
3. Understand how each formation is formed. How the river is eroded. Visualise, or else use youtube.
4. Write notes on the paper. Dont leave it clean. It not suppose to look the same way it is given to you. Another advice from my teacher. DONT START CHIONGING THE QUESTIONS WHEN YOU GET THE PAPER. Again, mistake by loads of students. Plan your answers, look at the question and write key words, look at the lrq and write key points, look at the commanding word (explain is not the same is describe) Planning time = 5 mins. Scan through all the questions and plan finish first. Then start doing the questions. Tested and proven it is faster. I managed to complete 10 minutes before time during prelims (by then you will be will trained to do everything really fast and legibly) 

HOW TO MEMORISE
My way of doing it, by visualising. I read my notes then I try to picture the scene in my head. Then during the exam, I will be able to remember it quite easily. Just try, it might work for you too!

Hohoho, so many study tips for humanities.
Just an offer to someone who really needs social studies notes. I am not selling it, technically I am giving it away. But I really hope that it will be given to someone who cant really afford humanities tuition (it more expensive due to fewer teachers), really cannot cope with essay questions and lack the skills in sbq. The set of notes include: my self written notes which i used to study for in olevels, SBQ skill guide from my tution, cartoon compilation from my tuition, model essays from schools, model essays from my tuition. Covers all topics. Syllabus is old, but i heard there is no changes to the topics, just weightage and textbook cover apparently... So yup! Comment below or email me at anonymousandmyjourney@gmail.com if you need them. One set, hardcopy.

Almighty TUITION, only for parents who are interested as usual (thats why i placed it at the bottom)
Teacher: Mr Daniel Xia from Aspire Hub @amk or nex
I think you can contact him through the tuition agency. If not possible then email me for his contact number

Positives
1. Every school have their own structure/style when it comes to answering questions. He will go by your school. If your school dont have one (near impossible) he can give you a general guide
2. I could really feel the improvement from the first time i entered to the last day i went to his tuition. First time going there, he gave me a cartoon, i couldnt even start. Last day when i left: he gave me a full sbq, let me handle it myself, i managed to interpret and write them out without his help at all.
3. His model essays are super duper good. But he only gives them during exam period when you have to memorise.
4. He can go through the textbook topic if you need help with it. The sad thing is that you have to write an essay with explanation after he went through it with you. It is sad because no one likes writing an essay. But it is placed under positives because it forces you to find the link yourself instead of blindly memorising. This is important because different questions may require different links although it belongs to the same topic.
5. It is again a personal coaching one to one tuition, but you can call him out if you have any questions. The class is usually quiet, only lower sec students seem to be more rowdy...
6. You can bring forward classes so long as he is in on that day. This is so that you dont need to attend tuition after the exam which makes total sense to me. Take a break, it is important.
7. He marks whatever paper i give him (prelim papers my school gave me) and he goes through them out of lesson time. Of course this is him being nice on his part. It is totally up to him whether or not to give you that extra time so dont go to him saying that you want to extend the lesson time. But yes, he can be such a nice teacher, so i was a pretty good student to him too^^

Not-so-positive
1. I require total silence when i am doing humanities, but when he starts coaching another person in the class I would definitely hear it. I hated it at first, but i just bear with the noise and soon enough i got quite used to it. So for students like me who hate noise when i am studying, this might not be too good...
2. If the class is big, you might not get enough attention. Like he will usually attend to me quite a lot, enough to let him explain the questions, interpret the source if i need help, mark the question, go through my mistakes (4-6 people in my class). There was once I attended another of his class, he only attended to me twice. Give me the paper and mark my paper (that class had around 10 people)
3. Students will love this. He has short term memory. He doesnt remember whether or not he gave you homework and so he will never chase you for them. You can still hand in though, just that you can enjoy the look of surprise when you told him you did it and want to hand it in for marking.
4. He might forget to mark your paper if you leave it with him so you have gotta chase him for it. In the end he returned most of my missing pieces a few weeks before olevels. Well, late is better than never:)


Such a long post...... I am getting more and more naggy:'( Nevermind, if you want to ask anything, just comment below or email me. I will reply you because I am nice. Hahaha just kidding, school hasnt started so I am free so feel free to keep me busy. I should be able to finish this before JC starts~ looking forward to it!

Mathematics and Additional Mathematics

Teachers
These two subjects are the love of mine in secondary school. I must really thank my sec one teacher, Ms Ho Li Yi [she left the school :,( after teaching us ]. She really inspired me a lot. Also, another math teacher of mine for two years, Mrs Tang, for being such an awesome teacher. There was once, without any prior booking for consultation, my friend and i needed her help with math and she just came out of a meeting. So we approached her and asked here if she was free, and she literally brought us straight to a table, placed her stuff away and immediately started the consultation. With such dedication, how can we bear to fail her?

Tuition 
I didnt like the way my sec two math teacher taught me, and so i did really badly for my mid years. And then, i was sent for tuition. THANK GOD for Mr Ho--my 3 years and more math tutor. I got an A1 for my sec two eoy^^He is SUPER DUPER GOOD TUTOR. I am going to continue with his tuition in JC. He teaches from Sec One to JC2, emath, amath, physics, chemistry, bio(lower sec). More about him below.

Results 
My results for math have always been excellent in upper secondary. If i am not wrong, ever since i entered upper secondary, all my tests and exams came back with an A1. My highest exam scored was 94.I have to admit, teachers really do matter, to me at least.

Tips for Math 
My method of studying math: PRACTICE. (That is why I recommend his tuition, more details below).
1. Topical TYS. Start in secondary 3. Finish each chapter. That's drilling.
2. I bought tuition worksheets from Ms Loi (www.exampapers.com.sg) which i find really useful. But i only recommend if you have a strong foundation in math because those worksheets are tough. Also, it is rather expensive so no point wasting money if you cant even handle tys.
3. Yearly TYS (note to parents: DO NOT buy in sec 3 or sec 4 unless the school didnt get it for their students). Only start doing this after prelims, and dont need to do all ten years)
4. Try other school's papers, your school would probably get it for you.
5. GET YOUR MATH RIGHT IN SECONDARY 3. DONT WAIT TILL SEC 4 TO CATCH UP. this warning goes out to all subjects but you would really regret in sec four if your math foundation isnt strong in secondary 3. Or at the very least catch up during the holidays. Just dont wait till secondary 4. it is too late because you wouldnt be able to manage.

About MR HO, the TUTOR. ( he didnt pay me to do this okay, neither did he tell me to do so. i just wanted to share because he is really a good tutor) 
Positives
1. He has a very big variety of worksheets and its endless practice because you can ask for more.
2. If he thinks you are weak, there will be homework, if you are not weak, then no homework! Unless you want then there will always be~
3. He will go through your test paper if you show it to him.
4. Also, he will give basic worksheets as starters. It is really one worksheet full of basic questions asked in different ways/different numbers. Although it is dreadful like mad, but you will remember the basics for the rest of your life. Drilling is the nicer word.
5. Then, he will give worksheets of your school's standard to prepare you for your school's exam (which i find practical).
6. You can eat in class. Because some students have no time for lunch and he would rather you eat than starve
7. If you are really tired, you can sleep. But that would mean staying back to make up for the time you slept.

NOT-SO-POSITIVE for students, GREAT and IDEAL for parents i think...
1. The tuition environment may not be suitable for some students. It is extremely quiet because no one talks. 2. It is more of a one to one tuition, just that he goes around to see if you need help.
3. He always extends my tuition time-.-" parents love it but students hates it. He extended mine for two hours before and no extra pay for him:( Usually he would extend about half an hour
4. You must never ever be late for his tuition. If you know you will be late, you must tell him before hand and not just come in late. He really hates late comers.
5. You cant leave early unless you have got a valid reason.
6. No such thing as listening to music in his class. Strictly banned since 2011. There is classical music in the background playing though.

Thats about it! You can email me for his contact, I am not sure if he is comfortable with me doing this at all...
email address: anonymousandmyjourney@gmail.com
Thanks for the read!
PS: This upload was actually yesterday's but my computer died before it could go up so yeap!

Languages

It has been quite some time since i posted. I went to turkey for 10 days and turkey is seriously a beauty, worth the travel^^ Back to the topic of the day: Languages. I take English and Chinese.

Firstly, I would like to say that the teachers in the school really does matter. I honestly did not like my Chinese teachers from secondary one to three. There was a norm in my primary school not to like chinese, but i was not deeply affected by it. I met a really good chinese teacher in primary six, and she managed to pull my chinese grades up to an A in psle. Teachers do matter, or rather the way they teach is important. Luckily for me, I met a really good chinese teacher when I was secondary four. I am not going to do a comparison because it might seem unfair to do so. But i will explain what it takes to be a good teacher in a student's point of view. Also, i am doing this in appreciation to my chinese teacher.

About my Secondary Four teacher
My secondary four teacher believed in understanding the language. Our chinese class was a mix of two classes, one with quite a poor standard of chinese and one with a higher standard of chinese and are really hardworking. It was difficult for him, really, to teach us as a class. Firstly, homework is usually late from one class. Secondly, when he teaches us, half of the class understands and half doesnt. He did try his best by providing us with translation himself, but always ends up in embarrassment because of his weird accent. In our school, we usually have 3 chinese lessons a week, an hour each. One lesson would be taking a mock paper 2. Next lesson would be used to go through the paper. Last lesson would be used to teach us new words/idioms. But due to the extremes of the class, he would have to use two lessons to go through the paper. All this starts in January and lasts until a couple of weeks before olevels. Oh, and most importantly, he provides consultation all day long so long as he is free. And i really mean all day long. To encourage us to go for consultations, he initally "forced" us to go at least once. Slowly, people started going, including me. Consultation starts at 6.30 am, and he really arrives at 6.30, not once was he late. Consultations can go on until 6pm, and not that he has to go home, its just that the security chases people out. During consultations, we would go through our own essays in full detail and ask whatever we needed to. Weeks before olevels, he started hauling the chinese class to school at 7 am (school starts at 7.30am), to read essays for half an hour. Everyone dreads it, like who would rather spend half an hour reading aloud essays if they had the chance to sleep in class before school starts? But it helps, for oral and for essay writing. His style of teaching suited me a lot, and i am thankful to have him as my teacher. Within less than 6 months, my chinese improved tremendously. Without chinese tuition for the 4 years of my secondary school life, i still managed an A1 for olevel chinese.

How to improve on Chinese? 
1. Seek help from your teacher, dont be shy, just ask. If you're uncomfortable going alone, go with your friends. Even if you feel you have nothing to ask, you can request to go through your essay. It works much better than copying out the entire essay after correcting the wrong words for correction (I find that dumb and useless actually)
2. If you are not really good in chinese essays, then keep writing one type which you are comfortable with. Paper 1 essays are usually set in 4 categories, narrative, descriptive, argumentative and news article related (报章报道）Students are encouraged to expertise in the last one, but during my year (2013 June Paper), the topic was really difficult and out of the norm, so many people were forced to do the third one. Students are encouraged to do the fourth one because it has a standard structure, standard opening, standard ending, and the content paragraphs are usual answers to why it happened, what are the effects of the situations and how to prevent it from happening again. Then again, it is getting less standardized by the years so that students dont still memorise and regurgitate during the exams.
3. Learn words and idioms that you will use along the way and keep using it. Try classifying them into feeling words or action words. It does not have to be bombastic words (because as a student, i dont even bother looking at it twice if it complicated and i do not know how to even read it). Get these words from model essays so that there is a higher chance of you using those words.
4. If you dont mind, listen to chinese radio (ufm 100.3) on the way to school every morning. They have a story telling session about 6.30 and it really helps in your paper 2 comprehension, last question whereby they will ask you to write a story based on the moral of the passage. Luckily for me, during the olevels paper, the moral of the passage was once explained through a story by the radio station so that went easy for me.
5. Oral, it depends on how hardworking your chinese teacher is, whether he or she is willing to take time out to practice with you. My friends practice their oral with their parents, but i find it weird and uncomfortable. So what i did was to record my oral practice and send it to my teacher. After which he will give me his feedback and suggestions.
6. Listening comprehension. Just do tons of it one week before olevel LC. At least that was what my school did and most of my friends scored full marks (answers would circulate through whatsapp or twitter but it does not come from MOE)
7. Just do your homework and hand in on time, i believe that all teachers would do their best to ensure that students score well for olevels. These are just tips from me, everyone has their own teaching style and learning methods.

English 
Sadly, english has always been my weakest subject. My only advice is to read more and ask more. I started going for english consultations a bit late because i am not very fond of my teacher. She is a good teacher, it is probably her teaching style that didnt quite suit me.
I tried reading the papers every morning when i was secondary three, at that point of time my english was getting better (seen from my essays) but then the newspaper subscription stopped. By the time my parents renewed the subscription, i lost the habit of waking up half an hour earlier to read the papers. Also, as the year goes by, the stress level and homework amount increases, resulting in less rest time. This means that I would rather sleep in then wake up to read the papers. So start early, so that it becomes a habit of yours.

O level Results
My previous post was dated last year, and this post is dated after 13 January and so results are out! I was very scared and nervous, I can still recall that tension in the hall. Here are my results, if you want to see if my tips and study methods actually work. I guess it could act as some kind of reference too~
English B3
Chinese A1
Elementary Mathematics A1
Additional Mathematics A1
Physics A1
Chemistry A1
Biology A2
Combined Humanities (SS+geog) A1
L1R5: 8 - 2 (bonus) = 6
First choice: Nanyang Junior College (Science)

This might not be the best results, but i definitely met my expectations. I think i have done great, no matter what my parents may think (eg. english is a sore thumb sticking out of the results slip). I was happy with myself and i found all the hardwork worth it. I could have done better but at that point of time, i knew this was the best i could achieve. So yeaps, hopefully i get into my first choice^^